NEW DELHI, Aug. 5 -- In an all-out attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the BJP leader was responsible for the violence against protesting youngsters and does not have the courage to explain in Parliament what happened with the students.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha made the remarks after meeting a group of students who had protested last month seeking then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the paper leaks issue and faced alleged police excesses on July 20.
"I just met young protesters from various states and had a discussion. I want to thank them, and I am proud of thousands of students like them as they fought for the Constitution, the education system and the future of India," Gandhi told reporters.
"They mentioned to me how they were assaulted, beaten and threatened... They have defended the Constitution, protected the idea of India and the future of India," Gandhi said, flanked by the five students who also narrated their ordeal.
He asserted that complaining about the education system, which is flawed, collapsing and useless, is not a crime.
"If anything, the system needs to be changed, it needs to be corrected and that is all they (the students) were asking for. They were not indulging in violence, they were not being aggressive or nasty. They were beaten, assaulted and threatened," Gandhi alleged.
"Forcing them, sending 'goondas' and forcibly taking their apology, taking apology from a 15-year-old and accepting that apology is nonsense and unacceptable to us," he said.
Gandhi called for an education system that works, an end to exam leaks, and respect and protection of the students' future.
"The person who had pellet gun fired at this young lady, the person who had a pellet gun fired at that young man whom I brought before the press a few days ago, the person who has turned the police force against this young lady, is Amit Shah and he is the home minister of India," Gandhi said.
"He (Shah) does not have the decency to come to Parliament. He does not have the decency or the courage to comment on what has happened.
"There are two possibilities -- he did not know that violence was carried out on children, in which case he is incompetent; or he ordered that the pellet gun be fired and violence unleashed against youngsters, which means he is culpable. Either way, he is responsible," the former Congress chief said.
Later, Gandhi posted on Instagram pictures from his meeting with the students. "Look at India's future-young, fearless, outspoken, and patriotic. And the Prime Minister and Home Minister? Neither the courage to come to Parliament nor the guts to provide answers," he said in his post.
The students, including Riya Ahir from Mumbai and activists Nutan Topo, Farha Naz, Bharat and Muskan Sharma, gave firsthand accounts of being beaten, thrashed, humiliated and fired upon with pellet guns during the peaceful demonstration.
It was model Rhiya Ahir, whose picture blocking a police van during student protests in Mumbai had gone viral. She has approached police alleging online harassment.
Speaking with reporters with Gandhi by his side, Ahir said she had stopped 20 children from being unlawfully arrested, and she was being harassed online.
She asserted that what she is facing is not trolling but a crime.
A woman who was allegedly hit by a pellet gun during the Jantar Mantar protest on July 20 also spoke at the presser.
Accompanied by the students, Gandhi said he was "proud" of them for defending India's Constitution and democracy. He sharply criticised Home Minister Amit Shah, holding him squarely responsible for the police violence and demanding he display the same courage as the students by facing the press.
Highlighting what he called the students' exceptional courage, Gandhi contrasted their willingness to face media scrutiny with the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. He noted that unlike the young people who spoke "fearlessly and eloquently", the senior ministers lacked the "decency or courage" to appear before the press.
Gandhi pressed the charge against Shah, saying the Home Minister was either incapable of controlling police violence and thus unfit for office or had ordered it himself, making him culpable. "He is responsible either way," Gandhi said, categorically blaming Shah for the July 20 violence.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.